24-Jun-2000 -- For my third attempt of the day (see
41°N 77°W and 42°N 77°W), on my way home from
Pittsburgh, I drove east on NY 17 to Vestal (just outside Binghamton).
I took the exit for NY 26 southbouth, and drove down to the PA state
line.
Rather than try to read a GPS and drive on a fairly busy highway, I
parked at the gas station/convenience store just south of the line (for
lower taxes on cigarettes and alcohol, apparently) and walked north the
fraction of a minute to the right latitude. It looked like 42°N
runs between two houses, and the confluence was 0.03 minutes east of the
side of the road. The house on the north looked vacant (unmown lawn,
spiderwebs on the front door, etc.), and no one was home at the other,
so I walked through the unkempt yard back to a small stand of
evergreens.
Nope. Not quite far enough east yet. What about the other side of
the spruce trees? Nope. But I've been on 0.01 for awhile; maybe that
stove/furnace-looking-thing in the clearing? That would be a cool
monument to the location! Nope. Other side of the clearing? There it
is! Set down the camera bag, get out the camera, grab a shot of the
spruces (only 15 yards or so away in Pic 1) change to the close-up lens,
look down at the GPS, and it's averaged down to 59.99.
Pick up and move back to the west side of the clearing. 0.00! Get a
pic (#2) back east across to where I just took the first one. Look down
at the GPS, and it's averaged down to 59.99. Again.
Pick up and move into the spruces, about 15 feet west of where I just
was. Stand there like an idiot for a minute (well, 54 seconds), decide
this is close enough, and get a picture (#3) of the GPS first.
Then pick a direction (vaguely northeast) where there's enough light and
enough spread between the tree trunks to give a feel for the area and
grab one more shot (#4). Conditions okay for a photo to the
west/southwest, too, but the house isn't particularly pretty, and the
scrapped raingutter on the ground threw off the composition, so I didn't
actually push the button. :)